In manufacturing and assembly environments, it is frequently desired to assess certain characteristics of materials such as carpeting or flexible panel-like materials in their installed state, partially installed state, or in an assembly environment. This presents several difficulties because most testing equipment is not mobile or designed for on-site use. In addition, many testing procedures are destructive in nature such that the sample undergoing testing is physically torn, severed, or otherwise altered. This is undesirable for testing of materials that have already been installed or are in an assembly environment and are about to be installed. Accordingly, a need exists for a portable and non-destructive device for measuring physical properties such as rigidity and flexibility of a thin planar member.
Testing carpet is typically performed by cutting or otherwise severing one or more samples from large carpet rolls. The cut pieces can then be subjected to an array of laboratory testing equipment. When attempting to use a portable device to measure or test certain characteristics of carpeting such as its flexibility or rigidity, a common problem is that measurements are not repeatable. That is, measurements can vary significantly between samples from the same source, and between different measurement trials. Accordingly, a need exists for a portable, hand-held device that can measure physical properties of carpeting in a consistent and repeatable manner.